Visteon Dashboard Display

The Challenge

For the automotive industry marrying cutting edge technology with a car manufacturer’s heritage is frequently a challenge. Drivers want gadgets but still rely heavily upon traditional methods to view the basic information such as speed; there is little to match seeing a physical speedometer needle race clockwise as you accelerate. Working alongside Visteon, a global supplier of innovative automotive products, the challenge for the GX team was to combine a motorised speedometer needle with Visteon’s TFT display screen. Visteon wanted help to produce a prototype of a hybrid Electromechanical/LCD Dashboard Display to showcase in luxury cars.

The Solution

GX designed and prototyped a miniature mechanism that could drive the speedometer needle yet would not obscure the driver’s view of the cluster LCD screen by removing the need for a central hub for the needle. To match the car’s interior lighting the team at GX Design Engineers incorporated blue illumination to the mechanism’s moving needle to match the TFT and interior mood lighting.

When it came to incorporating an instrument cluster into Visteon’s Growth Market Car the GX team also needed to develop an innovative instrument cluster. The cluster had to use of a low-cost segmented LCD display for clock, fuel and temperature status, which was combined with a colourful segmented LED rev counter, and an illuminated and motorised speedometer mechanism.

The Result

The attractive instrument cluster produced using accurate 3D CAD data fitted precisely into the interior of the Growth Market Car. Such precision ensured that Visteon could integrate the cluster into the vehicle in the short timescale available and then exhibit it worldwide at various car shows including the prestigious Shanghai Motor Show.

The GX team also produced a high-end technology demonstrator that could be displayed on a desk.